MRA Advisory Group Invests $288,000 in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

MRA Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 921 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMGN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Amgen by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,088,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,809,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,045,657 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Amgen by 547.8% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,005,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,991,738,000 after acquiring an additional 5,923,915 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Amgen by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,564,710 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,890,769,000 after acquiring an additional 243,720 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Amgen by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,831,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,679,625,000 after acquiring an additional 751,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amgen during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,556,912,000. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amgen Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN opened at $320.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $326.26 and its 200 day moving average is $302.25. Amgen Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.70 and a 12-month high of $346.85. The stock has a market cap of $171.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical research company reported $4.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $8.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Amgen had a return on equity of 161.72% and a net margin of 10.12%. Amgen’s revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amgen Inc. will post 19.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 128.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMGN. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Amgen from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Amgen in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Amgen from $360.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus boosted their price target on Amgen from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective (up previously from $375.00) on shares of Amgen in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amgen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.28.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.